From Law on Wisler:Wisler had an outside shot to win a rotation spot in March but struggled in his last outing and was just fair at Triple-A El Paso; his fastball runs 92-95 mph with an average to above-average slider and fringy changeup. He's probably a fourth starter in the long run but shows the size and fastball to be a No. 3.

On Liriano:Liriano could see some time as an extra outfielder, but he has never hit up to expectations and his swing has become increasingly mechanical and stiff as he's gotten older.

On Gettys:Gettys has an 80-grade arm, is a 70-grade runner and shows 65-70 power, but he's never found a swing that worked for him despite several different setups and swing paths; if it clicks, he'll be a monster.
If he can hit -- and he did hit much better in his first pro experience than I think anyone expected -- he will be a star. I still can't buy into the bat, given how much trouble he had just finding a swing and staying with it as an amateur -- often surrendering contact for power -- but he'll a top-50 guy if he can develop just an average hit tool.

Was it any real surprise Wisler struggled in AAA? The guy still has significant areas of his game he needs to improve.

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The one other viable option for the Padres is Wisler, arguably the top pitching prospect in a system loaded with pitching prospects. Wisler spent most of last season in Double-A, where he pitched to a 3.00 ERA, with 8.83 K/9 and 2.31 BB/9, in 20 starts. I saw him pitch in July, a road start at Tulsa, in which he was completely dominant. Wisler cruised for six innings, throwing just 71 pitches while allowing two hits and one walk, with six punchouts.

What I saw was an extremely polished pitcher for his age. Wislerís delivery is very clean and consistent, and he has excellent command of his 93-95 mph fastball. His best secondary offering is a sharp, biting slider, though he also threw a curveball and change-up. The curve was the better of those two; it had nice late break to it when he (inconsistently) got on top of it, while the change appeared to be more of a show-me offering.

The major knock on Wisler is his struggle against left-handed hitters, which is completely justified, as his arsenal is best suited to get same-handed hitters out. In his minor-league career, he has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 12.69 against righties, but just a 1.58 K/BB rate against lefties. Furthermore, six of the nine homers heís surrendered have been to lefties, but honestly, itís still outrageously impressive that heís given up just nine long balls in 250 professional innings. Additionally, if he can develop either the curve or change into even an average major-league pitch, he should be able to improve his splits.

Wisler will almost certainly start the 2014 season in Triple-A to get some more seasoning, but heís a No. 2 or No. 3 starter in the making and he could end up seeing substantial time in the majors this year. Heís likely seventh on the starting pitcher depth chart to start the season, but itís a volatile group ahead of him, and with his upside, Wisler could climb the ranks in a hurry.

Going into last season he was still really a two pitch guy, that couldn't get left handed hitters out. That's a significant speed bump to him being successful at the major league level.

Wisler "struggled" in AAA in the same way Noah Syndergaard did. It's just a tough league for pitching. Wisler was worse, but not that much worse.

I don't know much about the other guy aside from him being a highly regarded prospect. Wisler, however, despite his success in AA has significant issues that needed to be addressed.

I don't think his struggles at AAA warrant him being suddenly a lesser prospect, but I do think his issues with left handed hitters and his development of a solid third pitch should be taken into account. It's just part of the process of improving as a pitcher though.